1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for controlling an icon displayed on a computer display screen, and in particular to a technique for controlling display of an icon based on a color attribute of a document file.
2. Description of the Related Art
Icons are commonly displayed on a display screen of a computer such as a personal computer. An icon refers to an image displayed on a display screen to indicate a function provided in the computer; data of files, directories, etc., managed by the computer; and various setting conditions which are set in the computer. For example, when files are displayed in a list, an icon may be displayed having an image indicating the type of file (such as text file, word processor software file, etc.) along with the name of the file and the date and time of creation on a display column of each file. In addition, when the content of a file is displayed or edited, an icon may be displayed having an image reflecting an attribute regarding the content of the file and executability of the file in order to provide the user with intuitional understanding of the file.
It is also possible to provide, with the icon, a function for manipulating a corresponding function, data, and setting. For example, a user may move a file by dragging-and-dropping a document icon representing a document file onto an icon of a directory. Alternatively, a user may drag-and-drop the document icon to an icon (representing an output) of a printer to print the document file. A document file refers to a file in which a text, a number, a drawing, and a photograph, etc. are placed, and is a file which is expressed in a text code data format or image data format.
When the user drags-and-drops a document icon to a printer icon to execute the printing function, the document is generally printed based on the printing attribute which has been set in the printer. Therefore, when the printing attribute differs from the attribute of the document file, the user cannot obtain a desired printing result. For example, when the output paper size, which is a printing attribute, is set to A4 size, an A3 size document is commonly reduced and output. When the output paper is set in a vertical orientation, the layout of a document created assuming a horizontal orientation may be printed with distorted layout. Such a configuration is not only disadvantageous from the viewpoint of providing a comfortable working environment to the user, but also from the viewpoint of possibly forcing re-printing by the user, resulting in increased printing costs and wasted printer resources, such as paper, toner, or the like.
This problem becomes particularly significant when color printing and monochrome printing are mistaken during execution of a printing process. When a document which is monochromatically expressed is printed in color, color printing resources are wasted for printing the document which only requires monochrome printing. When, on the other hand, a document which is expressed in color is monochromatically printed, the document must be printed again in color because color information cannot be recognized in the monochrome document. Currently, however, because icons tend to all have a color image, there are many cases in which a monochrome document file is printed in color or a document is printed in color even through there is only a very small color region within the document, resulting in the printing waste.
Another problem associated with a printing process using an icon relates to cases in which a plurality of printers are set as being printable or a plurality of print settings are enabled within one or a plurality of printers. More specifically, in these cases, in general, the user may not be able to find an optimum printer or print setting, or many steps may be required even when the user can find the desired printer or desired print setting.